Looking for good ham radio for starters, and also any help to get started in ham radio for preppers.
I had heard of a fellow in southern Ontario with 55 school buses buried that runs a Canadian ham project.
Anyone know who this fellow was, i think they have a website.
The gentleman with the school buses is Bruce Beach....and the project is Ark II
"It's better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret"
search for 'ham' in the forum search engine. There have been several discussions but unfortunately I believe they are spread out about several different provinces. You will find a bunch of suggestions but it will depend on your purposes, money, location, and whoever is in your prepper group.
I too am looking forward to hearing peoples comments for this post! I just joind my local HAM club and I am working towards getting my licence. At our first meeting I was explaining to the other members that I was into prepping and thought that having a good HAM would be a wise choice! WOW...was I right! They were telling me just how well these radios work. I good handhelp radio that puts out 5 watts, along with an antenna upgrade has no problem covering a long distance. If the repeaters are still working when the SHTF you can communicate all over the world! If there are down and you have a good antenna (hand made J-pole) which are cheap to make yourself then you can still cover 100 km or more depending one weather, terrain...ect. I am looking forward to coming up with a solar system for battery charging!
Some members of my group just purchased several handheld HAM radios and gave one to me. Now, before I can use it, I have to get a licence. Even then, I'm not sure what I'll do with it. In Afghanistan, the crew of my APC were nearly all army signallers. My driver and I were the only infantry soldiers. My CO wanted me to learn how to operate the radios. To me, electronics are all just some kind of dark magic. I'll be lucky if I can even turn on one of those radios with sparks and smoke in great quantities. Also, I never was able to get the hang of the new military radios. I do know how important good communications are so I guess I'll just have to persevere. Any suggestions about resources and courses would be greatly appreciated.
Those who are unwilling to defend freedom, will become unfree.
Taz
check out this link:
http://abjk.ca/content.php?131-Amateur-Radio-Course
You might also want to try the local club (Northern Alberta Amateur Radio Club). I'm in a similar situation to you, except that I have my license already. What is also needed is a network of like-minded individuals, and this I am finding the hardest to locate.
The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.
I just saw an ad on my local Kijiji for a yaesu frg-7 for $200.
Wondering if anyone has used this rig and if so, is that a good price?
Also, any advice on what to look for if I decide to go take a look at it?
That radio is receive only. Why not get one with transmit capabilities?
The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.
Really?
I could have swore it was a tranceiver.
Bugger lied!
Thanks for the heads up!
If you are looking at radio equipment and are not sure if it is right for you I always start off by looking at the reviews on eham.net.
This is the link for the radio (receiver only) that you were looking at:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/979
If you are looking for used equipment, check out the local ham club websites. Most have a For Sale section and most are open to the public.
The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.
OK, so here I go again...
I have a lead on a very affordable HF radio.
It's a Millennium 2002 10 meter rig.
New in the box for $100.
Does anyone know anything about these?
I have never heard of the brand and would rather save up some more rather than blow a hundred bucks on something that doesn't work.
Thanks
It's a very broad question you are asking. It greatly depends on what you want to do with the radio.
Assuming you want local commutations there's a good chance you want a handheld. Most all are VHF (144MHz band) and some also have UHF (440MHz) and the price can go up a lot with the second band. Where I live, UHF is not used much. My base radio is a Yaesu Ft1900r, which can run up to 55 watts transmit and gives my a solid 20+ mile range (usually more depended on conditions)
For a handheld (HT) I have a 2 watt Chinese model that was given to me.. and I would NOT recommend it as it just doesn't have enough power. I use to have a 5 watt, and plan on getting another when money permits. You can go with the big names like Yaesu, or there at many good Chinese HTs like Wouxun
fyi: I hold an advanced ham radio license